December 21, 2011

Kim Jong Il dropping the bass

Did you know that Kim Jong Il was a keen DJ? Hilarious photoshop creation of the "Great Leader" in action: kim jong-il dropping the bass. See the previous post for more fun links.


December 20, 2011

Sina Weibo Honours Kim Jong Il

Following the death of Kim Jong Il, Sina Weibo has created a special page to collate comments using the hashtag,"金正日逝世", which translates to "Kim Jong Il passes away".

The are nearly 7 million posts and comments so far about the event.


Which are being collected on this page.

December 19, 2011

Google Zeitgeist 2011

Google's annual review of the top most searched terms on the web has taken on a much more interactive graphic this year. See Google Zeitgeist for global results, you can also drill down by country.



I've been searching for Baidu's version and have yet to find it. Any suggestions?

Liberator versus tyrant

Over the weekend, two very different leaders died…

Václav Havel, Czech’s first elected president of Czechoslovakia who lead the Velvet Revolution to bring down communism in Eastern Europe. Watch the Al Jazeera news.

And…

Kim Jong Il, “Great Leader” of North Korea. Read the NY Times article.

According to Al Jazeera, North Korean media say that Kim Jong Il died on Saturday from "physical and mental over-work".

Already (not surprisingly), the word is out on social media, which loves this kind of thing… adjusted for different spellings of "Kim Jong Il" , there have been more than 40,000 tweets about him by 12 noon (Beijing time).

Three witty images:






Some links pulled off social media this morning:

So Ronery funny, old animation of Kim Jong Il

North Korea Party Rock Anthem ft. Kim Jong Il

A funny blog of official photos - Kim Jong Il Looking at Things.

RIP Kim Jong Il 1941 - Dec 17 2011 - His Vision And How He "Looked" At Things


The death of North Korea Kim Jong-il obituary 金正日逝世讣告


Funeral Footage - KCTV (Kim Il Sung Dies 1994)

North Korea Party Rock Anthem ft. Kim Jong Il

My favourite tweet so far: "☑ Kim Jong Il ☑ Khaddafi ☑ Osama Bin Laden ☑ Saddam Hussein ☐ Internet Explorer".

Upon comparing the 'hot topics' on the real-time news platforms, "Kim Il Sun" (金正日) came top of the list on Sina Weibo in China


and "Kim Jong" was listed 4th on Twitter (I'm sure this will change when the Americans and Brits wake up).


December 13, 2011

Prizes for Battle of the Apps II

We've lined up some great prizes for "Battle of the Apps II" on 14th December, 2011. (Warning: we may juggle the prizes around on the night). Please help me thank them for their generous support by sharing their links.

Amazon Web Services



  • 1 x Amazon Kindle Fire (Full Color 7" Multi-touch Display with Wi-Fi)
  • 1 x US$500 of EC2 cloud hosting services for the winner (voted favourite by the audience)
  • US$25 of EC2 cloud hosting services for each contest participant

JigoCity Hong Kong


  • 100 complimentary drinks (for the first 100 guests at Bisous on the night)
  • 2 x 150 JigoPoints Credit Vouchers (equivalent to HK$150) for two winners
  • Super special offer for Web Wednesday Members: Spend HK$1 to get 50 JigoPoints, a shopping credit equivalent to HK$50. Claim this special offer here. [Valid 12 - 15 December, 2011].


UX Hong Kong



1 complimentary ticket (worth HK$2,900 early bird rate) to attend User Experience Hong Kong 2012 on 17 & 18 February, 2012. The organiser, Daniel Szuc, was a previous speaker at Web Wednesday.

If you're keen to learn more about usability, read Daniel's latest book, co-authored with Whitney Quesenbery, who will be speaking at the event, "Global UX: Design and Research in a Connected World".



12 Contestants for Battle of the Apps II

Twelve brave contestants will be competing to win our second "Battle of the Apps" contest, held on 14th December at Bisous, 9/F LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham St, Central, Hong Kong. Let us know your coming on Facebook, LinkedIn or our webform.

1) Frenzoo: We have our first contestant for Battle of the Apps! The 3D gauntlet has been thrown!The first 3D fashion game on mobile (now in beta). 10,000 installs so far. Download the Android app here.

2) 8Securities: Our 2nd brave challenger describes themselves as, "your own powerful and customizable trading portal where you can select the markets, trading tools, news & research, videos and social apps that are right for you. Our fully integrated social network will give you direct access to a smart community of like-minded investors and traders to learn from and exchange ideas."

3) Rapfox player: The battle will be televised! Rapfox Player is a free, easy and high performance video player, that supports rm, rmvb, mkv, avi, mp4, mov and 3gp video files. You can play high definition videos in Android phone directly. Download from the Android Market.

4) The Pinbook: The bashful Blackberry enters the fray! "Pinbook is a social application that allows anyone to reach out and meet new people. Designed to be compatible with BBM™, Pinbook allows you to connect with other BBM™ users through the new BBM™ Connected feature. Working along with the BBM™ social platform, Pinbook easily integrates with your BBM™ to add new friends". Download from Blackberry App World.

5) OpenBar: a real-time guide to happy hours and more in Hong Kong. In their own words, "Openbar is the largest interactive bars and clubs directory in Hong Kong. With the GPS location, it tells you which bars are nearby you in list or map view, each bar having its own profile with full description. Openbar is a free iPhone app that covers all bars in Hong Kong, Kowloon and even New territories. Openbar goes further than a simple directory with functions such as a Current Happy Hour Locator, Real-Time action finder and spotter, Facebook Friends Locator, Check-in function that allows you to receive instant exclusive offers from participating bars and more." Download from iTunes.

6) Tell me@1823: Even the Hong Kong SAR Government is joining the Battle of the Apps! Come vote for efficient government! Their description, "Makes it easy for you to report anything that bugs you around town to Government for action. The app allows GPS, photo and audio functions to be used along with messaging, keeps a record of reports you have made and alerts you to responses made by Government agencies." Download from iTunes.

7) Where is Dr.Sun?: The Honourable Dr. Sun Yat-sen (or his footprint on Hong Kong) joins as our 7th contestant for Battle of the Apps. Come vote for heritage! "An augemented reality application with mini-games, designed to introduce people in a fun way to Dr Sun Yat-sen and his historical footprint on Hong Kong." Download on iTunes.

8) Live Tracker Monitor: An interesting B2B app has come in as contestant #8 - LiveTracker - connect your Playbook to your Blackberry users to see where your colleagues are hanging out! Download here.

In their own words, "With this application, you will be able to see the exact locations of the tracked BlackBerry smartphones on a world map. Once you have the device ID (PIN) of a BlackBerry smartphone with Live Tracker, you will be able to track the exact location of that device. The location is then stored securely on our servers and gets pushed to your Playbook when it is connected to the internet."

9) Digital and Music Matters: The paperless version of Digital and Music Matters Conferences, with event listings, speaker and musician profiles, live video and DJ feeds joins the Battle of the Apps. Bring on the Rockers! Download the app here (multiple options).

10) The Exonerator: Now here's an unusual app that's come in as our 10th contestant, "The Exonerator - Your Alibi when you need one. Lets you prove where you were, anytime." Download on iTunes.

Tempted? There's more..."The Exonerator won't disclose your location to anyone else but you. But it will record it on your phone, ready for when you need it. The Exonerator keeps recording your whereabouts even when you are using your iPhone for other things, like reading your email or making a phone call. Just choose the time and The Exonerator will pinpoint your location on a map and show the approximate address of where you were then."

11) FTP Server: a  very practical free software, FTP upload and download, via your Android phone or tablet. Download from Android Market.

12) RiceCooker Cat: A game inspired by the inventor's cat, which always curled up inside a rice cooker! I guess anything can become an app nowadays! Download from iTunes.


And finally...

13) YumTable: Born in Australia in April 2011, our 13th contestant is a "SoLoMoFo" app - "social, location, mobile, food" for finding and booking great restaurants meals. Download from iTunes.


Each contestant will have five minutes to present their work, we then take a few questions from the floor. At the end of all the presentations, the audience votes for their favourite app, who is then awarded the top prize of US$500 in Amazon web hosting credit plus a Kindle Fire!

Come join the fun and spread the word via Facebook or LinkedIn.

November 29, 2011

We Are Asian and Very Social

Earlier this year, the British social media agency, We Are Social, arrived in Singapore and has recently published their overview of digital channel adoption in 24 countries across Asia. Plenty of juicy numbers, but aren't we looking for deeper meaning now?

Social Mixer V54.0: Battle of the Apps II

As a continuation of our popular "Battle of the Apps" contest format, we are once again inviting app publishers and developers to  participate in a pre-Christmas contest, held on 14th December at Bisous, 9/F LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham St, Central, Hong Kong. The social mixer will run from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and we'll kick off the contest at 7:20pm.

Let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook or LinkedIn.


All and any types of apps welcome, including but not limited to iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows, Chrome or Symbian (TV, tablet, smartphone, kiosk, etc).

Each contestant will have 8 minutes to show off their creation - slides, video, screenshots, whatever works. Bisous has a great projector, big screen and good sound system, but the wifi access is unreliable.

At the end of the evening, we'll take votes from the audience. The most popular app will win great prizes and a full interview slot at an upcoming Web Wednesday with all the associated promotional benefits.

You can submit your app on Facebook or the public web.

Do help me spread the word so that we can attract a wide range of contestants. Thank you!

November 14, 2011

Social Mixer V53: The Woof Guide - Saving Animals Online

Calling all passionate pet lovers and charity activists!

This one's for you. What can we learn from animal rescue that can be applied to doing good in a digitally connected world?

Come network and listen to an an interview with Ali Bullock, author/curator of the Woof Guide, animal photographer (animalsinphotos.com) and activist by night and Cathay Pacific online guru by day. Ali has donated his spare time to Animals Asia, HK Dog Rescue, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and many other good causes. He'll be sharing his learnings about how charities and good samaritan behaviour can be leveraged on the internet, whether it is for the benefit of animals (four legs), humans (two legs) or corporations (legless!).

Our 53rd social mixer will take place at Bisous on Wednesday 16th November, from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm.

Let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook or this blog.


As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink, a free talk, high-quality networking and the chance to win lucky draw prizes.

An additional round of free drinks and lucky-draw prizes are being generously sponsored by JigoCity Hong Kong.

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices.

This month we will donate 10% of entrance fees to Hong Kong Dog Rescue. Join their Peak to Fong walk on Sunday 27th November, 2011.

Looking forward to seeing old dogs and meeting new cats!

October 19, 2011

AllThingsDigital - AsiaD graces Hong Kong

"Chairman Mossberg" and Kara Swisher scout Hong Kong for their AllThingsDigital Conference, known as "AsiaD", that kicks off today at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Wanchai.



The speakers have been described as the "digital demi-gods of our time!" so, naturally, tickets are hard to come by. Don't worry, if can’t make it to the event, you can still catch the digital action:

Via the official website with its live blogs, videos, attendee interviews and photo galleries or via twitter (@allthingsd and #AsiaD) for real-time highlights and quotes. I will be tweeting (@webwednesday) from the event along with other local digerati, including Casey Lau, Jay Oatway and Jocelyn Liipfert. If you're interested in joining their mailing list to receive updates about future D events, sign-up here.

Love the way that they've decorated the entrance to the ballroom at the Grand Hyatt.

Add caption





October 12, 2011

Fun and Prizes at Social Mixer V52.0

Calling all rain-challenged Digerati,

We're on for another fun and educational Web Wednesday social mixer at Bisous tonight.

Educational #1: insights on Chinese social media from Meg Lee, the GM of SINA Hong Kong, who've just celebrated reaching 200 millions users on Sina Weibo, 1 million of whom are based in our home town.

Educational #2: A brief intro to AsiaD - AllThingsDigital and how you can access the video interviews and other content free online and via Twitter (@allthingsd and #AsiaD). With speakers like Al Gore, Apple's Phil Schiller, Alibaba's Jack Ma and Yahoo!'s Jerry Yang, the event has been described as, “The sexiest thing to hit Hong Kong's shores in ages! The speakers are the digital Demi-gods of our time”.

Educational #3: Meet new people and make new business connections and friends.

Fun #1 : Dress up in drag or Halloween garb and capture yourself on film with HK Photobox.

Fun #2: An additional round of free drinks and lucky-draw cinema tickets sponsored by JigoCity Hong Kong.

Fun #3: A bottle of champagne sponsored by our glitzy venue, Bisous Hong Kong.

Fun #4: A Blackberry Bold Smartphone, sponsored by S4BB as our lucky draw top prize.

Fun #5: One full conference pass to Cloud Computing Asia worth HK$11,585.

Fun #6: One 1-day complimentary conference pass to Digital Media Asia worth SG$750.

Fun #7: You get to laugh at my bad jokes!

October 9, 2011

Social Mixer V52: Sina Weibo, The Empress of Chinese Social Media

Calling all China Watchers!

No doubt, you enjoyed the spectacular fireworks in Victoria Harbour to celebrate 62 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China(中華人民共和國成立六十二周年煙花匯演).



Now come celebrate the 2nd birthday of Sina Weibo (新浪微博), China's rapidly ascending empress of the social media space, with over 200 million serfs/users (二亿用户).


Our guest speaker on Wednesday 12th October will be Meg Lee, General Manager of Sina Hong Kong (screenshot of home page below) and Executive Committee member of the Hong Kong Association of Interactive Marketing (hkaim.org). (You can find Meg at weibo.com/mugmeg).


Our 52nd social mixer will take place at Bisous on Wednesday 12th October, from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm. [Bisous is located at 9th Floor, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong. Easiest way to get there is via the lifts next to the Hard Rock Cafe at the top of Lan Kwai Fong].

Let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook, LinkedIn or this blog.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink, a free talk, high-quality networking and the chance to win lucky draw prizes. 



Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices.

This month we will donate 10% of entrance fees to poor families in Hong Kong via the Food Bank of St James Settlement. 



Looking forward to seeing old faces and meeting budding weibo stars,

Napoleon Biggs (weibo.com/napoleonbiggs)
Founder and Host - Web Wednesday Asia

September 18, 2011

Social Mixer V51: Mobile banking - why is it so damn hard?

This month we challenge Aman Narain, Group Head of Remote Banking for Standard Chartered, to show us how his new service "Breeze" will revolutionise the clumsy experience that is mobile banking today. Find out more about Narain on LindkedIn and follow him on Twitter (@amanwhotweets).


Our 51st social mixer will take place at back at Volar on Wednesday 21st September, from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm.

Let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook, LinkedIn or this blog.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink, a free talk, high-quality networking and the chance to win lucky draw prizes including iPad 2s.

For those of you who arrive on time, Standard Chartered is sponsoring HK$10,000 of cocktails, aptly named "Breeze"!

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices.

This month we continue to donate 10% of entrance fees to the Japanese Red Cross. (Read our earlier post about donation options).

August 21, 2011

Social Mixer V50: YouTube - The evolution will be localised

Calling all video fanatics!

Web Wednesday hits 50 this month! So we're going to celebrate in style...with a special show at Bisous, our sparkling new venue at 9/F, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong (call: +852 8127 7521 or visit www.bisous.com.hk).


Join their Facebook Group and follow them on Twitter (@BisousHK). [Easiest way to get there is via the lifts next to the Hard Rock Cafe at the top of Lan Kwai Fong].

Our guest speaker will be Anthony Zameczkowski, the new Head of YouTube Partnerships for Asia. We'll be talking about YouTube's migration from UGC to professional content and the value of localisation. Sign up on Facebook or via this blog.



As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink and the chance to win lucky draw prizes. Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices.

More details to come... but do spread the word and bring your fellow digerati for a fun night of high-quality networking, insights into the world of online video and a burlesque show with a digital twist!

June 20, 2011

Social Mixer V49.0: Battle of the Apps!

Calling all app entrepreneurs!

We're planning an open mike for you to introduce your best app to the Hong Kong Digerati on 20th July at Volar Club, Lam Kwai Fong, Hong Kong. Sign up on Facebook or LinkedIn.

You have 5 minutes to show off your app (videos preferred). At the end of the evening, we'll take votes from the audience. The most popular app will win great prizes and a full interview slot at an upcoming Web Wednesday with all the associated promotional benefits.

Do help me spread the word so that we can attract a wide range of contestants. All apps welcome, be they on iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows, Chrome or Symbian (TV, tablet or smartphone).

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink, a free talk, high-quality networking and the chance to win lucky draw prizes.

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices.

This month we continue to donate 10% of entrance fees to the Japanese Red Cross.

June 8, 2011

CNNGo travels to Web Wednesday

Come join the 160+ web crowd at tonight's 48th social mixer in Volar, kicking off at 6:30pm.

Andrew Demaria will share his experience, building out a travel start-up, CNNGo.com, under the watchful wing of a big media company, Turner International.

Jigocity ("Daily deals for the way you live") is generously sponsoring 150 free drinks so come early and sign up for our Facebook Page (facebook.com/webwednesday)!

Prizes galore, including exclusive CNNGo hoodies, a CNN spotting scope (to keep you out of the line of fire), restaurant coupons, cinema tickets and Pure dumb bells!

And to celebrate World Oceans Day (@worldoceansday), we have two books to give away: "Man and Shark" and "The Deep". Here's a video from the Anti-SharkFin lobby, created locally with cute bilingual kid journalists.


Anti SharkFIn FInal from mag on Vimeo.

June 1, 2011

Social Mixer V48.0: CNNGo - A Travel Start-up!

Calling all Asian Digerati!

As the summer holidays are around the corner, it's time to talk travel. So this month we are interviewing CNNGo, a travel start-up born here in Hong Kong.


Our guest speaker will be Andrew Demaria, Editor-in-Chief of CNNGo,Turner International’s Asia-based online travel and lifestyle platform, which launched in late 2009. Based in Hong Kong, he manages a team of 18 staff and oversees more than 500 freelance contributors across nine countries, with sites in four languages (Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong), Simplified Chinese (Shanghai), Japanese (Tokyo) and English (across Asia). Follow CNNGo on Twitter (@cnngo), become a fan on Facebook or join the Group on LinkedIn. They don't have a presence on the Chinese social media yet.

Our 48th social mixer (only two more 'till we reach 50!) will take place at Volar Club on Wednesday 8th June from 6:30pm to 9:30pm with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm. Venue is Volar, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong.

Let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook or this blog.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink, a free talk, high-quality networking and the chance to win lucky draw prizes, including some highly desirable CNNGo swag!

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices.

This month we continue to donate 10% of entrance fees to the Japanese Red Cross. (Read our earlier post about donation options).

Looking forward to meeting many new faces and welcoming old friends and inspired travel bloggers!

May 5, 2011

Thank you, Gerd Leonhard

A massive "Thank you!" to Gerd Leonhard for proving that he truly is a "media futurist" and for sharing his predictions on the future of selling entertainment at last night's social mixer.

For once, I didn't have to quieten down the audience as Gerd's talk kept everyone in mesmerised silence!

Not only is he a futurist but also a savvy marketeer; just look at this screen capture of Twitter to see him in action promoting last night's talk.


And here are his slides, hosted on Slideshare (slideshare.net/gleonhard) or download them from Owly. Until today, I had no idea that Hootsuite hosted documents in the cloud! (Thanks again, Gerd).

May 4, 2011

Discounted tickets to Digital Matters 2011

Digital Matters (digitalmatters.asia), our promotional partners for this month's social mixer are generously offering 20% discounted tickets to attend their conference on the monetisation of video content on 24-25 May in Singapore.

Sign up here to enjoy this offer.

They are also offering one complimentary ticket (worth US$1,099) for our lucky draw. So come along to meet the local digerati, hear Gerd Leonhard predict the future of selling entertainment and win the prize!

April 14, 2011

Social Mixer V47.0: "The Future of Selling Entertainment Online"

Calling all Asian Digerati!

On May 4th, we have teamed up with Digital Matters to bring you a one of the leading media futurists in the world, Gerd Leonhard, CEO of TheFuturesAgency.


On his Twitter account (@gleonhard), Gerd describes himself as "Keynote Speaker, Think-Tank Leader, Futurist, Author & Strategist, Idea Curator, Occasional Heretic and Visiting Professor FDC Brazil". Download his free books from here.

Gerd will talk about the dramatic changes in our consumption of media and entertainment and why and how people will pay for it. He will define some of the megatrends (globally and with a special focus on Asia) and share some of the key foresights he has gained in working with over 100 clients.


Our 47th social mixer will take place at Volar from 6:30pm to 9:30pm with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm. Venue is Volar, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong.

Let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook or this blog.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink, a free talk, high-quality networking and the chance to win lucky draw prizes, including complimentary tickets to Digital Matters Conference in Singapore, 24-25 May 2011.

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices.

This month we continue to donate 10% of entrance fees to the Japanese Red Cross. (Read our earlier post about donation options).

Looking forward to meeting many new faces and welcoming old friends and budding future gazers!

April 13, 2011

Tonight: Lucky draw prizes from Zhuhai

Our guest speaker for tonight's Web Wednesday Social Mixer, JJ Verdun, is generously donating some hyperlocal prizes for the lucky draw. So come along to Volar (6:30pm - (9:30pm) and drop your namecard in the bowl at the door (sorry, we gave up on the SMS contest a while back!) and you could be the lucky winner of one of the following:

3rd Prize: 2 tickets for the Beishan World Music Festival, held in a little village within Zhuhai on Saturday 23rd April.

2nd Prize: Dinner voucher for new Mediterranean Restaurant, Azur, in Zhuhai. See photos on Deltabridges.com or watch the background video below:



1st Prize: Room for two people at the Holiday Inn Zhuhai, the only international chain hotel in the city.

April 11, 2011

Bridge the Pearl River Delta on April 13

珠三角的同胞们! Calling all fellow Pearl River Deltoids!

For our gathering this month, we are joined by Jean-Jacques Verdun, Founder of Delta Bridges Media who publish deltabridges.com. JJ will share with us how he has built a successful business community in the Pearl River Delta and how he plans to take over the networking scene in Macau!


JJ is also the organiser of Macau After Work (join the Facebook Group) and in 2010 launched the Beishan International Jazz Festival which has now morphed into the Beishan World Music Festival.

This month's Web Wednesday HK Social Mixer is on 13th April and will start at 6:30pm and wind up around 9:30pm, with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm. Venue is Volar 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong. Let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook or this blog.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink and the chance to win lucky draw prizes. Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices.

This month we are donating 10% of entrance fees to the Japanese Red Cross (read the previous post about donation options).


Looking forward to meeting many new faces and welcoming old friends from across the delta!

April 6, 2011

Next gathering on April 13

Due to a tight travel schedule, I've had to postponed this month's social mixer until Wednesday 13th April. Once the speaker is confirmed, I'll set up an invite on Facebook (Group and Page), and share it via Twitter (@webwednesday) and LinkedIn.

In the meantime, see if you can spot yourself at the March event (see previous blog post) where our guest speaker was the CEO of Groupon Hong Kong, the company formerly (or still?) known as "uBuyiBuy" (their Twitter handle remains as @uBuyiBuy_HK):

March 18, 2011

Japan Earthquake - Donation Options


Today, CASBAA (the Cable and Satellite Association of Asia) sent me an email (with the heart above), pointing to a list of charities helping people recover from the Japanese earthquake (東北関東大震災).

Here's a selection of those charities: Habitat for Humanity, Oxfam, Red Cross, Save the Children, Unicef and World Vision. The Associated Press has a full list here.

Japan's national broadcaster, NHK, recommends making bank transfers to the Japan Red Cross (日本赤十字社) or the Central Community Chest (中央共同募金会). NHK also provides a list of links other useful resources.

March 12, 2011

Groupon Japan - Earthquake fundraiser

To support survivors of the recent earthquake and tsunami, Groupon Japan is tapping into it's user base to raise funds for the Japanese Red Cross. For every purchase of 200 yen via their website, they will donate 400 yen. According to Asiajin, they've already raised 3.8 million yen (US$46,000 or so).



Asiajin also has a post with extracts of coverage from the Japanese web.

Japan Earthquake - Ustream coverage

Japanese broadcaster, NHK, has turned to Ustream to further spread it's live coverage of the aftermath of the recent earthquake off the coast of Sendai. I managed to catch the Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, talking to the nation just now on this channel.
Watch the live video feed on uStream (in Japanese) or the embed below:









The fiercely independent journalist, Iwakami Yasumi (Twitter: @iwakamiyasumi), is also in the area finding out more about the repercussions of the explosion at Fukushima 1 nuclear plant. Watch his ustream channel below:



Google has set up a crisis response website linking to all kinds of useful information and promoting it's "person finder" service by spreading the widget below. Notice the choice of languages: Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.



Google is also offering maps of safe shelters around different cities in Japan. This one is for Tokyo:


より大きな地図で 東京都内避難場所 を表示

An alternative version of the news coverage is also available on Global Voices.

March 2, 2011

Tonight: Lucky draw prizes from Groupon and Adobe

We've got some fun and educational prizes lined up for the lucky draw at tonight's Web Wednesday networking event (6:30pm - 9:30pm at Volar in LKF).


So don't forget to drop your namecard in the bowl at the door (sorry, we gave up on the SMS contest a while back!) and you could be the lucky winner of one of the following:

1st Prize: 7 days of Groupon HK coupons (the main deal as they have three per day). Blog about your experiences and you get another 3 days of coupons free.

2nd Prize: Art Jamming session for 10 people (I've done this, a great laugh!)

3rd Prize: Lunch at the Four Seasons Hotel with Danny Yeung, CEO and founder of Hong Kong's hottest internet start-up!

4th Prize: Adobe Acrobat X Pro software (approx. HK$4,000)

Adobe is also generously offering each winner a set of tickets to their upcoming event, "Refresh Roadshow" on 9th March at Cliftons in Central. You can also sign up here.

February 28, 2011

Unified under Facebook

Woke up this morning with my son pulling on my ear and an invite to sign up for Facebook Messages, their new integrated offering. Not sure which hurt more!


So far, I like the automatic filtering of messages into those from friends (called "Messages") and uninvited stuff (called "Other"). Signed up for their email address but not sure how I'm going to have the time to manage yet another webmail account. Guess the swollen ear will go down eventually too!

Funny thing was that an ad for gmail popped up when I searched on Google!

February 24, 2011

Facebook rules!

Ever wondered what people spend their time doing on Facebook? This nifty little video shares the numbers. When will they share the psychographics?

Groupon Hong Kong: Discounted Road to Riches

Calling all budding internet entrepreneurs!

Originated in China, the group buying(团购)phenomenon has taken the world by storm. After just three years in business, the dominant global player, Groupon, recently raised US$950M for a valuation of $4.7bn!

On Wednesday 2nd March, I'll be interviewing Danny Yeung, the co-founder and CEO of uBuyiBuy, which he set up in March 2010 and sold to to Groupon nine months later for a princely sum.... Such rapid success has led Danny to become the inspiration for many a local start-up. Now he wants to share his experiences with you.

The event will start at 6:30pm and wind up around 9:30pm, with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm. Sign up on Facebook or this blog.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink and the chance to win lucky draw prizes, including free coupons from Groupon HK.

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices. 10% of entrance fees will be donated to Oxfam Hong Kong.

Looking forward to meeting many new faces. Let's see if we can beat last month's record of 290 digerati!

February 9, 2011

Fun prizes from Siliconcept

From the surge of confirmations on Facebook and via Social Media Week, looks like we have over 200 guests expected for Web Wednesday this month (see event details here). Who would have guessed that a speaker from Facebook could pull in the crowds?!

And to add to all the merriment, we've just had a last minute sponsorship confirmation from Siliconcept, who will generously provide a welcome gift for all paying attendees (up to 200 of you) - a Funky silicon Wire Manager. As you can see from the images below, these cable winders come in all shapes and sizes.


That's not all. Siliconcept, a Hong Kong born and bred start-up, is also sponsoring prizes for the lucky draw:

3rd prize: 2 packs of Eco Memos (non-toxic, reusable memo pads):

2nd Prize: 1 pack of Eco Memos + 1 set of Melosphere (handy ball) speakers:

1st prize: 1 box set of 7 Wisdomaze iPhone 4 silicon cases ("a phone case embedded with wisdom and fun"):

So do drop by their website (siliconcept.hk), become a fan on Facebook and help them spread the word of silicon!

February 6, 2011

Facebook meets Web Wednesday in Hong Kong

Happy Chinese New Year! 新春福兔送吉祥!

We're kicking off the Year of the Rabbit by burrowing deep into the heart of social networking, an interview with Trevor Johnson, Head of Planning & Strategy, Emerging Markets for Facebook. Sign up for the event on Facebook or Social Media Week.


Trevor has flown in from London to be part of Social Media Week and is keen to meet with the local Hong Kong Digerati. You can chose to "Like" Trevor on his Page (Facebook.com/trevor), follow him on Twitter (@uktrevor) or come to meet the man in person at our next social mixer on Wednesday 9th February, 2011 at Volar, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong.


Given all the recent developments at Facebook - Places, Deals, new Asian ad sales team, Middle Eastern political turmoil - there will be plenty for us to talk about!

The event will start at 6:30pm and wind up around 9:30pm, with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink and the chance to win lucky draw prizes.

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices. 10% of entrance fees will be donated to Oxfam Hong Kong.

Looking forward to learning more about the inside story!